This invention relates to apparatus for supplying compost to mushroom growing beds, and more particularly, to apparatus which enables a mushroom grower to uniformly, and relatively rapidly, distribute compost or other granular material to the beds of a mushroom house.
In one commonly used technique for mushroom culture, mushrooms are grown in buildings, so-called "mushroom houses" which house tiers of shelves, the shelves providing support for the beds in which mushrooms are grown. In the course of cultivation, the beds are supplied with a compost growing medium, which, later in the cultivation process, is covered by a "casing" of soil.
Although subject, of course to individual variations, the beds of a mushroom house are usually about five feet wide, and on the order of sixty feet long. The beds are typically arranged in vertical tiers, several feet high, with the individual shelves spaced from each other by approximately two feet. The tiers of shelves are usually spaced from each other by relatively narrow aisles to take maximum advantage of available floor space. The space constraints resulting from the foregoing arrangements create practical difficulties in transporting and distributing compost to the beds.
Mechanized spreaders for compost and other materials relating to mushroom culture have heretofore been proposed. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,975, to deWinter, issued Feb. 10, 1976, a mushroom growing bed is itself supported by a movable web, the movement of which serves to transport the growing medium. U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,495, to Pannell, issued June 16, 1981, discloses another apparatus which uses a moving belt associated with a bed. A cross-conveyor, cable-supported and vertically adjustable by means of a winch, is used to discharge compost to the belt.
In conventional practice, however, compost is distributed in mushroom houses in the following manner: compost is picked up by a front-end loader and deposited in a feeder, which then distributes the compost to a movable conveyor. The conveyor, in turn, transports the compost into the mushroom house, typically to a location adjacent to the section of the bed to be filled. The conveyor then feeds the compost to a distributor, and the material is then manually or mechanically distributed throughout the bed.
The present invention provides an apparatus in which the need for manipulation and positioning of the feed conveyor within the limited confines of the mushroom house, among the tiers and beds, is eliminated. The invention achieves these objects by providing a movable guide, physically separated from the distributor and located away from the tiers and beds, which receives compost from the feed conveyor. The guide, in turn, directs the compost to a movable distributor, the distributor itself being adapted to traverse the length of the beds to apply compost to the beds more uniformly then is accomplished with presently used apparatus.